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The challenges of the Inter-American Democratic Charter

Authors

  • Rubén M. Perina George Washington University
Vol. 44 No. 173 (2012): Septiembre - Diciembre
https://doi.org/10.5354/0719-3769.2012.26954

Abstract

The Inter-American Democratic Charter (IADC) is the Organization of American States' (OAS) principal mechanism for the collective promotion and defense of democracy. It incorporates a series of diplomatic and juridical instruments developed by member states as part of a historical effort which begins in the nineteen eighties and nineties, when the great majority of OAS members returned to democratic governance. The Charter reflects an inter-American consensus and commitment to promote and defend representative democracy. However, in several Latin American countries one can observe a growing and worrisome pattern of moving away from such commitment and consensus --challenging the validity and relevance not only of the Charter but also of the historical inter-American instruments for the protection of human rights. In the emerging pattern, a government achieves power through democratic elections, but once in control of the State, it wields its power to denigrate, dismiss and erode democratic institutions, values and practices established in their own constitutions and in the Democratic Charter. In view of these challenges, this article evaluates its relevance and effectiveness in preventing coups d´etat or auto-golpes, contain the erosion of the democratic order, and restore it when it has been interrupted. It also proposes measures in order to apply the Charter to the fullest and/or reform it, so as to strengthen it as a multilateral mechanism for the promotion and defense of democracy, and specifically for preventing the collapse of the democratic order. It concludes with the caveat that such measures will be difficult to implement while the present hemispheric political and ideological differences and divisions persist.

Keywords:

democracy, promotion, prevention, erosion, early warning

Author Biography

Rubén M. Perina, George Washington University

Doctor en relaciones internacionales y ciencia política, Universidad de Pennsylvania; profesor de la Elliot School of International Affairs, George Washington University; funcionario superior de la Organización de los Estados Americanos (OEA); consultor internacional y autor de numerosas publicaciones sobre temas de su especialidad.

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How to Cite
Perina, R. M. (2012). The challenges of the Inter-American Democratic Charter. Estudios Internacionales, 44(173), 7–36. https://doi.org/10.5354/0719-3769.2012.26954
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Estudios Internacionales
Institutos de Estudios Internacionales
Universidad de Chile
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